Let’s see if a documentary about the U.S. Constitution can hold the attention ofa 13 year-old and a 10 year-old - for 90 minutes.

Sami Al-Arian is the University of South Florida Professor and Palestinianactivist.

Al-Arian advocates for the overthrow of the Israeli occupation in the West Bankand Gaza.

As Nelson Mandela advocated for the overthrow of the apartheid regime in SouthAfrica.

As any of us would fight against occupation - if we were occupied.

Al-Arian was engaging in free speech.

But, lo and behold, Al-Arian became a target of the U.S. Department of Justice.

They said he supported Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

They accused him of being a terrorist.

They indicted him and others in Florida and put him on trial.

They tapped thousands of his family’s phone conversations.

Including those of his wife ordering pizza.

They used 400 of those phone conversations at trial.

Picking and choosing.

Slicing and dicing.

They flew Israeli victims of bus bombings from Tel Aviv to St. Petersburg,Florida to testify against him.

They spent $50 million to prosecute Sami Al-Arian.

One problem - the government couldn’t establish a link between Al-Arian’sadvocacy and these violent acts.

Two years ago this week, on December 6, 2005, Sami Al-Arian was found not guiltyon eight counts.

The jury hung on the remaining nine counts.

The reporters wanted to know from the jurors - why didn’t you convict SamiAl-Arian of being a terrorist?

What was missing from the government’s case?

“Evidence,” one juror responded wryly while leaving the courthouse.

“Guilty of what?” asked St. Petersburg Times reporter Meg Laughlin.

“Why is he still in jail?” asks my ten-year-old, Nicholas.

Good question.

Pause the DVD.

The jury acquitted Al-Arian of eight counts.

They were unanimous. 12 to 0.

But they deadlock in the remaining nine counts - 10 to 2.

That’s called a hung jury.

And when the jury hangs, the prosecutor can come back and try Al-Arian again onthose counts.

Which they threatened to do.

But they also held out the carrot.

Plead guilty to one count to non-violent support of Palestine Islamic Jihad.

And we’ll recommend time served.

And you’ll be deported.

One thing Al-Arian has to be proud of is - his family.

They are the stars of this movie.

His wife Nahla, and children Leila, Leena, Abdullah, Lama, and Ali - are strong,sane, composed, articulate.

Not that they don’t have their moments of frustration. They do. Nahla blows agasket while cutting her son Ali’s hair. (Ali doesn’t help matters by resistingthe hair cut.) Nahla blows again while speaking to Sami - he’s on the speakerphone from prison asking her to check some web site. She’s busy doing somethingelse. He hangs up on her. She reaches for a couple of unidentified pills.

But never do the Al-Arians blow up at the Norwegian film crew - which is campedout at their home throughout the trial. If they did, the blow up didn’t make thefinal cut.

When federal prosecutors offered Al-Arian the plea deal, he questioned whetherto take it.

He would have preferred to fight it.

He figured - hey, I beat the government once, I can beat them again.

But the family wanted none of it.

The family was fed up with our government’s harassment, trials, phone-tapping,and right wing attacks.

They wanted out.

Give us our father back and let’s move to Egypt.

As Georgetown University Law Professor David Cole puts it - Al-Arian could havefought through another six month trial, and even if he were found not guilty, hewould still be facing deportation.

So, Al-Arian pleads guilty to one count.

And the family all drives down to the courthouse for what they thought was onelast time to get their father.

But the Judge decides to reject the government’s proposed sentence - time served- and hits Al-Arian with the maximum sentence.

Al-Arian stays in jail.

He was due out earlier this year, but then came Gordon Kromberg.

Kromberg is an assistant U.S. Attorney in Virginia.

Kromberg wants to put Al-Arian through a perjury trap.

He wants him to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia investigatingIslamic charities.

This was in direct violation of the plea deal Al-Arian cut with the government.

So, Al-Arian refuses to testify.

Kromberg charges him with contempt and throws him in jail in Virginia.

When Al-Arian’s attorneys request a delay of the prison transfer during the holymonth, Kromberg shows his stripes when he responds:

“If they can kill each other during Ramadan, they can appear before the grandjury. I am not going to put off Dr. Al- Arian’s grand jury appearance just toassist in what is becoming the Islamization of America.”

The movie ends before Kromberg enters the picture.

Too bad.

He would have fit well into this little morality play.

Good v. Evil.

Civics 101.

Al-Arian remains in prison in Virginia on civil contempt charges.

As he appeals his case, the government is considering charging him again withcriminal contempt.

Earlier this year, Nahla and her two youngest children - Ali and Lama - left thecountry for Egypt.

The movie - USA v. Al-Arian - will open in Washington, D.C. this Wednesday,December 5, 2007 at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C.

After the movie, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman will moderate a roundtablediscussion with Georgetown Law Professor David Cole, GWU Law Professor JonathanTurley, one of Al-Arian’s trial attorneys - Linda Moreno - along with theNorwegian director of the movie Line Halvorsen, and Sami’s son Abdullah.

If you live in the Washington, D.C. area and you have young children - take themto see this movie.

If not, get a copy of the DVD and show it far and wide.

It’s a great crash course in Civics 101.

Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate CrimeReporter.

Howard Zinn Statement on Professor Al-Arian

Satirical Article in: The Tampa Fibune

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SPOTLIGHT

March 2000

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To be patriotic is to be able to question government policy in times of crisis.To be patriotic is to stand up for the Bill of Rights and the Constitution in times of uncertainty and insecurity. To be patriotic is
to
speak up against the powerful in defense of the weak and the voiceless.To be patriotic is to be willing to pay the price to preserve our freedoms, dignity, and rights.To be patrioticis to challenge the abuses of the PATRIOT Act.From a speech by Dr. Al-Arian9/1/2002

Announcement of Book:The Al-Arian Reader

A new compilation of all relevant articles to be released soon by the National Liberty Fund

And with the scream of the braveI shall riseIn honoring the memory of your ancestorsYou riseWith my stateless brothers and sistersI shall riseLike dust in the sunlightYou riseAnd as ashes in a fiery nightI shall riseYou offendBecause of your existenceAnd IFor my resistanceYou upset themRecalling their pastAnd IBy holding steadfastThey may trod you in dirtMay cause me all the hurtInflict upon you excruciating painWhile they shut me up and detainBut they won't see you brokenNeither would my faith be forsakenAs you've never bowed your headAnd never lowered your eyesI'll continue to raise my fistAnd hide my mother's criesThey may shoot you with their wordsCut me up with their swordsThey may insult you with their eyesDenigrate me with their liesTrying to kill you with their hateBury me alive to seal my fateBut they'd certainlyBe shamed and failAs the free chant and singOn their march to prevailSo keep your head held highAs I follow you and tryAnd keep your beautiful smileAs I walk my first mileThey'll pressure and blameThrow us in prison to control and tameThey'll exile and defameLynch us all or shoot and maimBurn crosses with no shameTarget our children in a dirty gameBut why is that a surprise?Despite their evil and terrorTheir falsehood and liesYou shall riseAnd I shall riseYou're the black oceanLeaping and wideI'm the MediterraneanWith a stormy tideStaying togetherSide by sideIt's no surpriseWe shall riseSurely shall riseWe together shall rise

No Longer AfraidFor us to feel "secure"What price is being paid?If living in freedomWhy are we afraid?Fear is everywhereAll aroundPerhaps irrationalBut without any boundYou can see it on our facesSense it in our eyesYou can hear it in our whispersFeel it in our criesMore>>No Longer Afraid

He sees the world as black and whiteHis solution to every quandary is fight with mightThe economy will not stimulateBecause he can’t articulateWhile jobs are goneHe says, “bring ‘em on.”

Who is he?

He likes to be called the GeneralThe head of an agency that’s federalIf you spit on the sidewalkHe’ll send the Incredible HulkHe hates to cite truth or factBecause he’s busy promoting his unpatriotic actHe frequents TV cameras with a smash

The first part of his last name sounds like trashWho is he?

He is the ideal dutiful poodle they sayFrom an empire where the sun did not set one dayHe adores his cowboy friend and considers him a fanAnd insists: I’m nobody’s yes-manWhen the cowboy says no, I say noWho is he?